Turning Green or Dry Bowl Blanks

[Thomas Snyder]

I'm new to this turning area and I have a question. I looked at some websites mentioned here for bowl and platter blanks and noticed that they sell green wood for turning. I have a supplier locally that I can get 16/4+ dry wood in many different species cheaper than these sites. Is it better to turn green wood to rough dry and finish or just go with dry stock? Right now I'm only going to do pieces up to 10 inches wide and 4 or 5 inches deep as my lathe capability is limited. Seems to me if I can get dry stock, it would make sense, any experience or opinions would be appreciated. Thanks

[Jeff Nicol]

Thomas, Turning dry wood is dusty and sometimes the wood is very hard and will take a little more effort to get it to shape. But you will be able to finish it right away. Also dry wood is a little harder on the tools and will have to be sharpened more often. So wet wood is pretty much the opposite of the above statements. If someone is selling dry blanks for less than you can get wet blanks that is a good thing depending on the types of wood they each sell. If you are in a hurry to get some things out and complete go with the dry wood, but if you can find a source of wet wood that you don't have to pay for or maybe do some work to get it (clean up a down tree or contact a tree service ) then you can turn a lot easier and stock up on some roughed out pieces for the future.

No matter have fun and glad to see you here on the turners forum on SMC!

Jeff

[Steve Schlumpf]

Thomas - Welcome to the Creek!

Jeff gave you the basics - most of us turn green wood because it is something we have access to and is usually free! If you can turn some dried wood - go for it! When we turn green - we then have to dry it before re-turning it - so you are just cutting out a huge step in the process. Course, that is also the most fun part of turning - but you would have a finished product a lot sooner!

Looking forward to seeing your work real soon!

[ROY DICK]

If you go the free green wood method be sure you have a basic understanding of what materials and equipment you may need.
There are many posts in the creek for ideas if you have not seen them yet. Plus what has been said about dry wood.
Welcome to the creek and be careful and enjoy the ride.

Roy

[Bernie Weishapl]

Welcome Thomas to SMC. You have gotten some good advice. I turn green becasue it is easier to turn than dry for me. Of course it must be dried and then returned to finish.

[Wally Dickerman]

Green wood vs dry wood? No contest...go for the dry wood. Unless the 16/4 dry wood has been kiln dried don't count on it being completely dry. Rough turn it as you would wet wood and let it season for a couple of weeks at least. There will be some movement.

A test to see if wood is dry....Hold it to your cheek. If it feels cool it's not completely dry.

I have access to 12/4 kiln dried maple planks. That is what I usually have my students turn in beginners bowl classes. They can completely finish the piece at the class sessions.

Wally

[Jim King]

Wally got it perfect on all points. The wood to the cheek method never fails.

[David E Keller]

I prefer green wood because it's easier to turn and generally free. The waiting part is tough sometimes, but I guess I'm more frugal (wife would say cheap) than impatient. Welcome aboard.

[Ryan Baker]

I agree with Wally too. I actually prefer to turn dry wood, though I rarely have dry wood to start with. Green wood is fun to hog away at -- making big streaming curls all over the place. But dealing with the drying, warping, returning issues can be a real pain when you just want to get a project done and don't have months to wait. Obviously both methods have plusses and minuses. If you have a good source for thick, dry wood, by all means use it. Most of the time the suitable thick wood will only present itself in green form, so you have to get to love turning green wood too.

[Dan Forman]

If you go green, you will need a chainsaw to cut the logs in half and to proper length. Green wood is a lot more fun to turn than dry wood.

Dan

[Kim Ford]

Lots of good advice.

I turn a good amount of both, because people bring me barn beams and the like. They they want a keep sake made from "grandpa's barn" that they can put on a shelf.

The thing to remember is that a 100 year old "dry" barn beam is not dry. The moisture content of the wood is going to be greater in the center than on the perimeter. Which means that as stated before, rough it out, let it stabilize for at least a couple of days before you final it out.

I do this by roughing the piece out, and then with the shavings produced by the piece, I completely surrond it in the shavings in a plastic garbage can for a few days or weeks. This usually eliminates the "shock" factor that can cause splits.

Turning green blanks can be fun, but is is very good practice as well. It will teach you the proper presentation, tool type and grind for different types of cuts. With dry wood you have a smaller margin for error, which can be frustrating to a someone new to the vortex.

Bottom line is before you dive into turning dry blanks, find some green word and go for it.

Good Luck and have fun.

[Donny Lawson]

What would be the main tool used for your bowl making? I know tools are expensive and I need one to start with.So what 1 tool could I buy to make small bowls say up to a 10-12 inch bowl?
Donny